Playing Second Fiddle

The title of this book, “Playing second fiddle?” is intentionally revealing. The starting point for the question posed is whether the European Union has become a second-tier player in the global arena. The phrasing of the question itself suggests a fair share of Euro‐centrism. The obvious counterquestion would be, and in 2015 it is posed almost with a knee‐jerk reaction: What indicators imply that the EU can challenge the United States and China and take a position as a true global powerhouse? In all honesty, not that much. Has the train then already left the station for what is still a very unique experiment, “the European Union”? This is what this book is about.